Rockford IL "Daily Stormer" Meetup Disrupted by Antifas

The meeting between the two chumps in this picture was not just any cordial chit chat over a beer at some bar.  These two are not old buddies, or co workers kicking back after a long day of work.  Nope, these two adorable strangers were brought together by a site we all know well, “The Daily Stormer”.  It started on January 27, last Friday afternoon when it was brought to the attention of Antifas within the Midwest region that a group of people were openly planning to meetup in Rockford, IL that night. This planning process unfolded in an open thread on “The Daily Stormer” among several people, but those who seemed most interested and likely to partake went under these usernames:

(Click to see Screenshots)

"brotheryellow"

"schlomo-fecalstein"

"HenryFord"

"DeplorablePeopl"

Little known to these unsuspecting Nazis, one of those people involved in the discussion tipped the Antifas off. The mastermind behind the meet, seemed to be the one calling himself “brotheryellow” (pictured here) , apparently quite the runner (as he was about to prove later on that night). He claimed to be a mobile homesteader, traveling the country and looking for like-minded people to meet up with.  He was even kind enough to include in his profile on The Daily Stormer a real picture of himself, and the fact that he drives a van. He even let everyone know that he would be wearing a yellow hat when he got there! Aside from the one in that forum who let our comrades know about the potential meetup, “brotheryellow” proved to be just as useful.

After going back and forth amongst themselves, seeming unable to agree on a time and place, and even rejecting a Starbuck’s as the location because it was too “Jewish”, they were, finally satisfied with a little dive bar called the Oasis at 901 State Street in Rockford. Upon the arrival of some of our comrades, prior to the agreed time, it seemed obvious that one of the Nazis from the forum was already there waiting. After some time passed and the presence of Antifas in the bar grew, the lone fascist grew visibly uncomfortable and took off, just as our two unsuspecting pals above, along with a woman in their company, entered the bar.

They had a few beers and pushed their way through what looked like some awkward conversation, then finally asked for the check. They seemed to think it prudent to use the emergency exit pictured behind them and clearly weren’t enjoying the vibe that this bar was putting off.

As the trio headed toward the parking lot they were greeted by some comrades, obviously shocked and confused, and politely asked not to come back to the bar….. Just kidding they were all actually given an entire can of that special hot sauce (see: bear mace) point blank to the face. The last anyone saw of “brotheryellow” he was seen sprinting down the street the other direction, true to his claim in The Daily Stormer profile he has. Obviously no hero to his fellow Nazis. The last that was seen of the remaining two, they were left in the parking lot, stripping off their clothes in the frigid weather, clawing at their faces, awaiting the WAHmbulance and piggies that they would call.

As satisfying as it can be to punch a nazi or, in this case, empty a can of bear mace in their face, it's also important to notice something particularly alarming about this report. The sheer stupidity in which they openly planned this meeting and were unable to detect the presence of Antifas in the room is great for the action, but its indicative of the lack experience these fascists have. Their profiles all showed recent membership with The Daily Stormer site, and through that platform they intended to set up a meeting, to share already toxic and hateful perspectives of their worlds, to further radicalize their fascist ideology. The same trends we are noticing on our side with the amount of people rising up, maybe taking action for the first time in their lives against this oncoming wave of fascism, we see the equal and opposite reaction on the right. It’s at this crucial stage that we have to strike; to smash fascism at its very inception can quite literally save lives. It would have to be assumed that going forward from here, these folks will be somewhat hesitant about having the audacity to put their oppressive ideology on full display in the community among the very people they would oppress.

5th Annual White Nationalist Economic Summit Smashed; Several Hospitalized

An update 6/01/12 from Beckie Williams via stormfront: "Because of the relentless harassment by the ARA TERRORISTS, my already tenuous health is being impacted in a extremely sever way. My only recourse is is to step away from activism for the sake of my continued survival."

On May 19th, at around noon, A white nationalist event at the Ashford House in Tinley Park, IL was allegedly attacked and shut down by antifascists, sending several neo-nazis to the hospital. The event organizers and some attendees then had their information released.


On May 20th in the early morning, River City ARA paid a visit to the home of Jeffrey S. Burns flyering his house and neighborhood to land the final blow in this attack against white supremacy

This is only a re-post by south side ARA and not a claim of being involved contrary to what myfoxchicago.com suggests

From antiracistaction.org

In response to Mob Attacked Specific Group of People Inside Tinley Park Restaurant

On Saturday, May 19th a group of 30 anti-fascists descended upon Ashford House restaurant in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park where the 5th annual White Nationalist Economic Summit and Illinois White Nationalist Meet-and-Greet was taking place. The White Nationalists were targeted inside the restaurant and physically attacked, causing several injuries and completely shutting down their meeting. The anti-fascist group was privy to anonymous inside information. This fascist event had been in secret planning for six months. The attendees have attempted to cover up the true intent of the event with mainstream media reports initially reporting the white nationalist conference as a wedding party and then as an Irish heritage meeting. The event was advertised on www.stormfront.org, an established white nationalist fascist internet forum.

Anti-fascists oppose any organizing by racists and fascist in their communities. Fascist and white nationalist organizing has resulted in a number of horrifying incidents, from the recent J.T. Ready shootings in Arizona to the Benjamin Nathaniel Smith shooting in the West Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago, as just two examples.

These anti-fascists are committed to shutting down and attacking any racist, nationalist, or fascist organizers or individuals that they encounter

-----
This white nationalist event was organized and attended by:


Beckie Williams

AKA "scottylass"
Stormfront handle: SGATHAICH
Email: scottylass22@yahoo.com
Phone: 309-749-5164
Council of Conservative Citizens(CCC)


Jeffrey Stuart Burns

AKA Thomas Stuart 141 Conley ave Wood River, IL 62095
Date of Birth: 2/3/1960
Wife: Lisa Burns
He is a supervisor/manager in the "private contract security industry".
Council of Conservative Citizens(CCC)
American 3rd Position
Supporter status for National Socialist (nazi) Movement and Ku Klux Klan Knights Party


Brandon Spiller

Stormfront Handle: DarkSarrow
bspiller@brandonspiller.com
Age: 29
4113 w Lillian St Apt A McHenry, IL AND 23347 W Liberty Ave Lake Villa, IL

Posted on Patch News Article receiving a head wound requiring 8 staples.



Shawn "Kayden"
Pictured here
Responsible for the "economic summit" portion of the event

Along With Other Members of the Illinois Chapter of the National Socialist (nazi) Movement.

Flyer Text From River City ARA:

Jeffrey Stuart Burns, We know who you are. We know what you are. We know what you have been up to. We are keeping a close eye on your activities. Stop organizing white nationalists immediately. Regional Antifa have exposed you. We do not want you organizing in our area or anywhere else. Consider this a warning to get out of the White Nationalist scene while you can. 

Sincerely, River City Anti-Racist Action and the rest of the ARA Network

Prison Society Breaks Our Hearts: A Valentine's Day Anti-Prison Noise Demo

Why do we wish to destroy prisons? Many radicals will say its because these torturous institutions “aren’t working”. But that ideology only helps to strengthen the prison industrial complex's attempt to mask its true nature. It is to assume that prisons and current(and historical for that matter) methods of punishment were created with a common goal in mind; to protect. This is false! Prisons must be destroyed immediately because in their quest to brutalize, torture, repress and most importantly control ..they most definitely are working. But the war is not over and there are many of us within and without these beasts with eyes wide open. We will have the last laugh.. and penitentiaries will fall

Taken From toliveisillegal.tumblr.com:

February 14th 
7pm 
@ Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center (71 W Van Buren) 

Following up on a very successful noise demo on New Years Eve, the Committee for Illegal Life is excited to announce another noise demo at the MCC this Valentine’s Day. No matter how critical of the holiday we may be, Valentine’s Day remains a time when we are told to celebrate those we love and cherish in our lives. Although we often concern ourselves with that which we hate, it is equally true that this hatred is the flip-side to our love for each other, for revolt, for friends and lovers we have yet to meet. Prison society, above all, is built in a way which seeks to separate us, to try to break the intense emotional connections that we build as we struggle against the State and capital. For those held captive by the state, so many remain separated from their lovers, spouses, parents, and friends, keeping them from being able to adequately express their love and their desire for others on the outside. Others, trapped in the invisible prisons of gender normativity and compulsory heterosexuality, are punished for being with their lovers on the inside. So many of us as well find ourselves imprisoned by misery and depression that comes with not having the romantic relationships that we’re “supposed to have.” The only love worth having is that which is a love for revolt and the necessary complicities that come with it. Join us on February 14th to reach out to friends, comrades, and lovers at the MCC to once again show that love and revolt will never be separated by prison walls. 

*those expressly not invited: cops, snitches, rapists, people more interested in selling their politics, revolutionary organization, and/or newspaper than they are interested in the destruction of all prisons/ jails/detention facilities and supporting those behind bars*

Voice Mails From Angry Nazis To South Side ARA

Antifascists around Chicago have really pissed off white supremacists these past few years. For example; Tim Nelson of the Creativity Movement(TCM)just got kicked out of his apartment(5655 n Menard #2) due to a flier mission and alleged direct action against his property. Because of things likes this, we have gotten tons of great hate mail. But even better than the emails are the phone calls. Our hotline, originally created to contact us during the 2010 white pride march, has been a great source of entertainment. After a hard day of confronting nazis or getting them kicked out of their houses and organizations it's always nice to kick back and enjoy friendly phone call from Merton Gary, James Logsdon(1233 Holiday RD Bloomington, IL 61704), Joshua Steever "Hatchet"(right) or any of the other dumb ass boneheads who want to stupidly give us empty death threats. We enjoy them so much we decided to share a few recent ones with you. Hope you likez!

-John from San Diego jocking Tim Nelson and threatens to kill(330-365-6275)

-Tim Nelson drunk as fuck in Akron, OH (330-365-6275)

-Cryptic voice(330-416-7310)

-"White power mother fucker"(773-628-7123)

-James Logsdon challenges us to a cage match..Lulz!(309-830-9485)

-Tim Nelson "man the fuck up"

-Tim Nelson "fucks our girls"

-Chillin at the congress(773-628-7123)

Chicago Students Walk Out On Israeli Apartheid

From a press release circulating on-line:

Students and community members stage simultaneous walkoutsof Israeli political events at Northwestern and DePaul Universities.
Chicago, IL (November 11, 2011)—On the evening of November 10th, students and community members staged two simultaneous walkouts at events promoting Israel’s narrative of its history and politics. At Northwestern University’s Evanston campus, demonstrators held a silent walkout during a presentation by Gil Hoffman, an Israeli military reservist and journalist. Meanwhile, on DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus, students and community members used the “People’s Mic” technique – popularized by Occupy Wall Street – to disrupt a presentation sponsored by the organization Stand With Us. Organizers say that they protested because the presentations omitted the disturbing reality of Israel’s repeated violations of international law and countless human rights abuses against the Palestinian people. 

 At DePaul, a group of about thirty concerned individuals “fact checked” an event called “Israel 101,” sponsored by Stand With Us, an organization that seeks to brand Israel in a friendly and positive light. Demonstrators interrupted the presentation, stood up, and announced a statement about Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights. According to one of the participants, University of Chicago student Ishan Chakrabarti: “We used a version of the ‘People’s Mic’ technique, recently utilized by the Occupy Wall Street movement. We challenged Israel 101’s propaganda and selective history and spoke truth to power by amplifying our voices.” The “fact check” was followed by a walkout and teach-in.  

 At Northwestern University, around thirty students and community members protested a presentation entitled “63 Reasons to Like Israel: Why American Jews should be Optimistic about Israel,” featuring Gil Hoffman, a reserve soldier and spokesman for the Israeli military as well as the chief political correspondent/analyst for The Jerusalem Post. Co-sponsors of the event included the Coalition for Accuracy of Middle East Reporting in America and the Zionist Organization of America. The university’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter staged a walkout on Hoffman’s speech, inspired by the example of other student groups around the Midwest, including The University of Michigan, Benedictine University and Wayne State University. Outside, a diverse crowd demonstrated in support of the walkout.  

One DePaul student explained, “At DePaul, we made up about three-quarters of the audience. At Northwestern, they filled a third of the room. We made it obvious that the community at large does not tolerate the promotion of Israel at the expense of Palestinian human rights.” A handful of protesters at both events decided to stay behind to engage in civil debate and discussion.  

Organizers say these actions are part of the recent rise of a new global political consciousness about Palestine. This is reflected not only through non-violent protests and walkouts, but also through the growing “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) movement, which reuses the methods that helped dismantle apartheid in South Africa. For the third year in a row, international solidarity activists nonviolently challenged Israel’s six-year blockade of Gaza. These events reflect the success of civil disobedience in achieving concrete political change across the world, from the US civil rights movement to the South African anti-apartheid struggle. Palestinians and their supporters are part of this history

Anti-Gay Advocate, Scott Lively, Award Ceremony Attacked

Homophobe Scott Lively

On October 15th, Scott Lively, long-time advocate and supporter of harsh anti-gay laws in Uganda, was awarded by Americans For Truth About Homosexuality(AFTAH). This is not the first we've seen this group publicly push its hateful agenda at the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights. In the past they have hosted a public seminar warning students and others about the 'homosexual agenda'. But many will not sit around quietly as homophobia rears its ugly head. The Gay Liberation Network called for a public demonstration against the 'award ceremony', which was attended by many allies; while the night before militants took extra action against the unrelenting den of homophobes. Lively says "In my 20 plus years of pro-family activism, I have never seen such a brazen act of ‘gay’ militancy.’

Here is a communique from an Anonymous  cell found on Chicago Indymedia:

In the early morning hours of October 15th, we put two chunks of concrete through the glass windows and doors of the Christian liberty academy(502 W. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL)We did this because at 6pm today they will be hosting an event organized by the homophobic hate group Americans For Truth About Homosexuality that will be presenting an award to Scott Lively. Lively is an American preacher and founder of the hate group Watchmen on the Walls. 

Christian Liberty Academy - Post Attack- Chicago Tribune

In 2009, Lively and other American homophobes spoke at a conference in Uganda called “Exposing the Truth About Homosexuality and the Homosexual Agenda”. This conference stirred the anti-gay atmosphere that already exists in Uganda, a country with laws that punish homosexual acts with up to 14 years in prison. As a direct result of this conference, participants have drafted a bill that, if passed, would increase the sentencing for homosexual acts to life sentences and execution and make it a legal responsibility to report homosexuals in the community. Lively has also co-written a book called “The Pink Swastika” which claims that homosexuals created the Nazi Party and were responsible for the Holocaust, a book that has been repeatedly denounced as inaccurate by historians.
Americans For Truth About Homosexuality is another U.S-based hate group that is based in Naperville, IL. Run by Peter Labarbera, the organization has previously organized day-trainings for youth anti-gay organizers on how to counter the “Homosexual Agenda” at the Christian liberty academy. Americans For Truth About Homosexuality lost their non-profit status this past summer. 

On January 26, 2011, Ugandan gay rights activist David Kisule was murdered after being outed in a newspaper ad that listed names and photos of queer people in the community as a part of an anti-gay campaign that is a result of Scott Lively’s visit. 

These chunks of concrete were thrown through these windows and doors for two reasons: to show that there is a consequence for hatred and homophobia in our community and to directly cause this event to be shut down. If this event is not shut down, and the homophobic day trainings do not end, the Christian liberty academy will continue to be under constant attack. 

Please call scott lively, Christian liberty academy and peter Labarbera and tell them how you feel 

Lively: 1-951-834-5933 Peter: (630)546-4439Christian Liberty Academy: 847 385-2125

Here is a report back of the public protest from Chicago Indymedia by GLN:

Activist Who Promotes Imprisoning of Gays Protested in Suburban Chicago 

ARLINGTON HTS., IL — Pro-LGBT picketers greeted notorious anti-gay activist Scott Lively in suburban Chicago last night at the annual banquet of "Americans For Truth About Homosexuality" (AFTAH), an organization designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a "hate group."  

The protest was sponsored by the Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net) and supported by South Side Anti-Racist Action.Though he denies it, Lively is widely seen as a principal promoter of Uganda's "kill the gays bill" which would institute the death penalty for what it terms "serial homosexuality" and prison sentences for those who defend gays or fail to report them to the police. In 2009 Lively and two other U.S. evangelicals traveled to Uganda and spoke at a conference which, he boasted, someone likened to launching "a nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda."
The New York Times reported that "the Ugandan organizers of the conference admit helping draft the bill, and Mr. Lively has acknowledged meeting with Ugandan lawmakers to discuss it."  

ABC News reported in March 2010 that Lively said of his Ugandan counterparts, "These are good Christians; better Christians than there are here in the states. They care about each other. And I think the reason they're pushing so hard on this law is that they don't want to see what happened to our country happen over there."  

This isn't the first time that Lively had tried to promote his anti-LGBT bigotry abroad. In 2007 he traveled to Russia, a country already riven with anti-gay violence and government repression, and wrote an article advocating that Russians should "criminalize the public advocacy of homosexuality… The easiest way to discourage 'gay pride' parades and other homosexual advocacy is to make such activity illegal in the interest of public health and morality."

Several Arrested in Direct Action Against ICE "Secure Communities Act" Forum

Hundreds disrupted and walked out of a "public forum" organized by U.S. Immigration Customs & Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security to demonstrate opposition to the "Secure Communities Act". Instead of participating in ICE's attempt to gain public support through their phony forum, protesters chose direct action and civil disobedience instead and took to the streets resulting in several arrests. More from the Immigrant Youth Justice League:

Six Undocumented Youth Arrested in Chicago Action Against Secure Communities





UPDATE, 3:50 AM: All of the undocumented youth who were part of the action have been released, along with 3 supporters who were also detained by police. We are committed to supporting the undocumented youth in raising fund for their $1,500 bail. Please consider making a donation to support them and our organizing. Donate here.

Today Chicago responded to the hearing on Secure Communities by walking out of the hearing, and staging a civil disobedience where 6 undocumented youth were arrested. The action and protest took place after over 300 people walked out of the hearing, following a call from IYJL organizer Alaa Mukahhal. She said, “You would not tolerate this for you or your neighbors, why do you expect me to tolerate it for me and mine. I cannot accept the program or this task force.” The youth who were arrested, currently being held by the Chicago Police Department are: IYJL organizers Carla Novoa, Miguel Martinez, Jorge Mena and Ireri Unzueta Carrasco; Arianna Salgado from Nuestra Voz, and Fanny Martinez, from the Latin@ Youth Action League. 

Read the youth’s bio and statements here


Below is the testimony / call for a walk out by Alaa Mukahhal, given at the public hearing on Secure Communities in Chicago, August 17th, 2011. After this call, over 300 people walked out of the meeting to join a civil disobedience by undocumented students outside. 
"My name is Alaa and I’m undocumented. Today, I am here for my mother and father who spent the last 18 years living in anxiety and fear, afraid that our family is next. I’m here for my mother who when I told her about Secure Communities becoming mandatory, she put her head in her hands and asked me “When are they going to leave us alone?” I sat there and I listened to her tell me all the friends and family she knew who were caught and deported. They weren’t criminals; they were fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters. You would never accept this life for yourselves or for your families, so why would you accept it for your neighbors and communities?
Enough! Enough with the lies to us and to yourselves that somehow you will fix something that is designed to deport our families.
I can’t in good conscience stay at a hearing that’s a front for something so irreparable and insecure. Sometimes words are not enough, hearings are not enough, press conferences and speeches are not enough. I am here today with my undocumented friends, because there comes time when we need to take greater action. We are tired of fear, and today, today we will break that fear from Secure Communities. I and five others are going to walk outside of this building right now.
We are going to intentionally block traffic and put ourselves under arrest, knowing full well that under Secure Communities, this act of protest, this minor offence, will mean that that we could get placed in deportation. This is the risk that immigrants all across the country take every day.
We ask the community to follow us outside, and we ask the people on the task force to have courage for your communities and do the right thing. We resign from this hearing, we think you should resign too and join us outside. We have letter demanding the resignation of the task force signed by over 150 organizations nationwide. We will walk out because we are undocumented unafraid unapologetic. Join us!"

(mainstream news video report) 

Chicago July 31st Reportback: Taking the Struggle to the Fascists' Doorsteps

Nearly 30 Chicago-area individuals, including members of South Side Chicago Anti-Racist Action and Four Star Anarchist Organization, got together for the July 31st Day of Action Against Fascism and Racism to protest at the home of Lyons Illinois neo-nazi Arthur J Jones, as well as local restaurant and nazi sympathizer P.J. Klem's. Art Jones's recent activities include having organized both the 2009 and failed 2011 Hitler Birthday celebrations at PJ Klems and repeated failures at local electoral campaigns (receiving less than 5% of the primaries in 2008). His past activities include membership in George Lincoln Rockwell's National Socialist White People's Party, America First Committee and Bill White's American National Socialist Worker's Party, as well as an appearance on the Jerry Springer Show.

First stop was Art Jones' apartment (7744 Ogden Ave, Apt 3Lyons, IL 60534, 708-442 6334). Under heavy police surveillance that included just under a dozen uniformed officers and several undercover cars that filmed the afternoon's events, antifascists held banners, called attention to Art's property and shouted slogans such as "death, death, death to the nazis, power, power, power to the people", "resistance, defiance! no nazis in lyons!" and "antifa". It seemed that Art was either hiding in his house or was not home, but it can be said for sure that he will know we were there due to the mass spectacle we created in the neighborhood. Also be aware that Art Jones runs a business in Lyons called "Family Biz Insurance": why anyone would want to trust their future with a self-proclaimed white racialist is beyond us, but we can bet that Art Jones's future in political organizing in his town is over.

From there, we marched a few blocks away to P.J. Klem's, a local restaurant and banquet hall that specializes in shitty food and hosting white supremacist events like the 2009 and 2011 Hitler Birthday celebrations (where we saw another of our old friends, Soren Renner). Although we were accompanied with several supporters (including Art's neighbors and other bystanders who joined up with us), several others were apparently offended by our anti-racist slogans and chants, infuriated by the fact that we were protesting a neo-nazi and a fascist-sympathizing restaurant. On the way over to Klem's, several racist sympathizers drunkenly shouted at us and even attempted to challenge us with physical confrontations (laughable due to them being greatly outnumbered and the fact that there were loads of pigs surrounding us). Before one assumes that the entirety of Lyons, Illinois is a den of white supremacists, we would like to give a big shout out to those locals that saw what we were doing and gave us their verbal support or joined in with our march.

We see this action in a different context than that of your average protest as it was itself a direct action and not merely symbolic protest. The purpose was to let Art Jones know, as our blog itself already has, that he is being watched, that we are on to him and that we are unafraid to take the struggle against fascists straight to his front door. It strikes a fear within him, the knowledge that antifascist militants were standing on the very property that he has to pass every day coming to and from wherever he goes. That not only do we know where he lives, where he works and what he's been up to, but we also have the capability to mobilize people to action against fascist scum. The long term goal is to either deter him from organizing by putting fear and paranoia in his head, or to eventually drive him out of Illinois altogether, for he is a facet of fascist potential and fascism is best destroyed before it gains momentum.

As for the State, the pigs themselves tried to play as if they were our friends while monitoring our every move, sending in undercover cars to take pictures, and to keep us out of "trouble". A reminder to all revolutionary antifascists who may not realize: we are in a three-way fight, which means fighting against the capitalist State as well as the authoritarian alternatives that would keep us exploited and oppressed.

And don't worry, Art.  We'll be in touch.

Stay safe and play rough... see you again next year, and every day in between. -South Side Chicago ARA

(To other endorsing organizations around the country: send us your reportbacks and we will try to put together a national July 31st 2011 recap)

July 31 Day of Action Against Fascism and Racism

On July 31, 2010, militants and organizers across the U.S., Canada, and Europe participated in the International Day of Action Against Fascism and Racism. Please join us on July 31, 2011, as we collaborate again to struggle against white supremacists organizing in our communities.

Who: Revolutionaries everywhere!
What: Organizing events and actions against fascism and white supremacy!
When: July 31, 2011! Where: Wherever you are!
Why: To clean up the streets and take out the trash!

On March 27, 2010, Luke Querner was shot while exiting a bar in downtown Portland, Oregon. While police investigation and local reporters initially played this off as gang-related violence, friends, family, and community members spoke up to let the truth be known: Luke was an anti-racist skinhead that organized against white supremacists in his community, and was in turn attacked by white supremacists in an effort to silence and intimidate anti-racist/anti-fascist organizers. Luke survived the shooting, which left him partially paralyzed.

In response to the shooting, anti-fascists organized the July 31 Day of Action Against Fascism and Racism to publicly fight back. This occurred in the midst of a rise of racist far-right activity in the U.S., including Arizona's racist SB1070 immigrant bill, Tea Party tax protests, and vigilante border patrols by neo-Nazis.

We have chosen to put out a call to action again this year as a means of coordinating anti-fascist struggles. In 2010, we saw a variety of actions and efforts that reflected the diversity of the participating organizations, which included benefit shows, public events, protests, and public outings of white supremacists. Only by organizing against white supremacists and fascists can we protect ourselves from their violent attacks, and not by putting faith in the police and legal systems that enforce borders and criminalize People of Color.

On July 31, 2011, join together with radical anti-fascists to take it to the streets and oppose racism and fascism in our communities.

List of Endorsers

Circle City Anti-Racist Action
Four Star Anarchist Organization 
Gay Liberation Network 
South Side Chicago Anti-Racist Action
Central Texas ABC
Dirty Hands(Durango, CO)
Arch City ARA
First of May Anarchist Alliance(M1)
General defense committee of the IWW
One peoples project
Hub City ARA
ARA-LA/PART
Worcester Antifa
Boston Antifa
Montreal RASH
Indiana RASH
All power to the positive


If your organization would like to endorse this call to action, please contact us at southsidechicagoara@hushmail.com and we will add your name to the list of endorsers.

Southsideara.blogspot.com

Announcing the 17th Annual 2011 Anti-Racist Action Network Conference

Date:  Saturday September 17 from 3pm-10pm
Location: U.E. Hall, 37 South Ashland Ave Chicago, IL (wheelchair accessible, children-friendly, near Ashland green/pink line)
$5 suggested donation. After-party after 10pm details TBA.
Conference details at http://southside.antiracistaction.org

Chicago is hosting the 17th annual Anti-Racist Action Network conference on September 17, 2011. This event is open to the public and includes workshops, caucuses and discussions. Come meet other activists and organizations involved in community struggles against racist terror and other forms of oppression.

Featured speakers:

• Mark Clements (Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Jon Burge torture survivor)
• Daniel(Four Star Anarchist Organization) & Lash
• Bernadine Dohrn (former SDS and Weather Underground members, co-author of Race Course Against White Supremacy)
• Michael Novick (LA ARA/People Against Racist Terror)
• Xloi and Becca of Bring The Ruckus (BTR)
• More TBA

Workshop descriptions:

Militant anti-fascism by Daniel and Lash
This workshop will focus on the theory and practice of militant anti fascism. We will attempt to explain what fascism is and how it is similar to/different from other ideologies of the far right, how militant anti-fascism differs from liberal anti-fascism, how this work relates to anti-racist/anti-oppression work and how it relates and impacts other movements. This workshop will also provide some concrete strategies and tactics for combating fascism.

Michael Novick
ARA unites around principles of anti-racism, anti-fascism and anti-oppression as our political approach, non-hierarchical autonomy as our organizational approach, and miltant direct action as our tactical approach. Let's address issues of politics, strategy and tactics not commonly raised, to draw out areas for further study and discussion. Michael Novick will consider settler colonialism and white supremacy in forming class consciousness, the state, society and political groups; and the implications of anti-colonial analysis for building alliances, developing successful anti-fascist strategy, and identifying pro-active priorities in the battles we take on.

Becca Sandor and Xloi of BTR 
Becca Sandor will be presenting on the rise of anti-immigrant environmental groups. She will be speaking about the many forms these groups are taking to link population and immigration specifically and their connection to each other and other white nationalists.

Xloi will be presenting on the resurgent nativism on campuses. She will focus specifically on the campus group, Youth for Western Civilization, their ties to white nationalists and their anti-immigrant and anti-muslim organizing. She will also touch on their ties to the far right and white nationalist groups internationally.

Becca Sandor, is a member of Bring the Ruckus contact info: becca@bringtheruckus.org
Xloi is a member of Bring the ruckus: xloi@bringtheruckus.org

Bernardine Dohrn
Bernardine will be speaking and having an open discussion about white supremacy and the contours of anti-racist organizing and activism.

Bernardine Dohrn, activist, academic and child advocate, is Clinical Associate Professor of the Northwestern University School Law, and founding director of the Children and Family Justice Center. Dohrn was a national leader of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and the Weather Underground, and was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List for over a decade.

She is co-author, with Bill Ayers, of Race Course: Against White Supremacy, co-editor of Sing A Battle Song: Documents of the Weather Underground, and wrote the introduction to Letters from Young Activists. She is an author and co-editor of two books: “A Century of Juvenile Justice” (2002) and “Resisting Zero Tolerance: A Handbook for Parents, Teachers and Students” (2001). She and Ayers are currently writing, What If?

Mark Clements
Mark Clements, at the age of 16 years old was taken to area three violent crimes unit. Beat and tortured. He served 28 years inside prison for a crime that he did not commit. It was determine in 2009, that a motorcycle gang the "Munsters" committed the crime after a drug deal with one of the building owners went bad. Today, Mark is outreach Administrator with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Wrongful Conviction Director with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and founder of the Campaign to End Torture formers known as the "Jail Jon Burge Coalition". Jon Burge has been found guilty... now Mark fights to free those who were tortured and sent to prison as the result of Burge and his subordinates.

Anyone who wants to host a workshop, table with literature, or participate in the conference in other ways, please contact us at southsidechicago@antiracistaction.org.

For more information please see our website at http://southsideara.antiracistaction.org or email us at southsidechicago@antiracistaction.org

Check out some of the work we have been doing and supporting in the past year in our latest zine: the South Side ARA May Day Edition

When will they learn? NSM eats it again in Milwaukee

Back in April nazis from The NSM held a conference in Pemberton, NJ, but not before a huge melee between them and anti-fascists that involved bats, hammers, pepper spray and folding chairs left several NSM members gushing blood and sent four to the hospital with one apparently having a shattered cheekbone. Now, months later, a follow up attack left the Milwaukee unit of the NSM in a fury. Harriet and Paul Paletti and about three other nazis from the NSM held a demo at the pride parade in down town Milwaukee. As always the NSM was heavily protected by police but this didn’t stop a few anti-fascists from making sure they didn’t go home without interruption. Aside from infiltrating the Milwaukee NSM through Harriet Paletti(20225 w coffee road, new berlin 53146),anti-fascists had been watching the NSMs’ since early in the morning and had clear descriptions on all cars and attendees. Once it was clear that they were going to hide behind police protection antifascists decided to go for their cars that were in the parking lot. Their grey astro van was parked directly in front of their red Chevy HHR which had an NSM member inside ‘guarding’ the van. After being confronted at his car he cowardly denied being a nazi and did nothing to protect the vehicle of his comrades. During the confrontation of this low life scum anti-fascists made sure to pop both of the NSMs’ front tires leaving them stuck in the lot and out a few hundred bucks, not including the tow we are sure they needed. Although we realize this was no huge defeat, the reality is, after such a beat down in Pemberton you would think the NSM would tighten their security and assure nothing at all happened. Most importantly it should be assumed that this is not the last hit the NSM will face. This war is not over and so-far this years score board says anti-fascists: 2 NSM:0

Smoke Bomb Ends Hitler Birthday Party

From the Chicago Tribune:

Lyons police are investigating a smoke bomb explosion that abruptly ended a birthday party celebration for Adolf Hitler at a Lyons banquet hall, a party complete with decorated cakes and Nazi banners.

The suspect, a man with a backpack, had ordered a grilled cheese sandwich before he went into a restroom and set off the smoke bomb, authorities said Monday."The description we have to work off of is very vague," police Chief Harley Schinker said of the person responsible for the damage Saturday night to P.J. Klem's Restaurant & Banquet Hall.

Art Jones, chairman of the America First Committee, said he organized the party and that about 60 people attended. In addition to celebrating the 122nd anniversary of Hitler's birth, which is Wednesday, Jones said the group marked the April 12, 1861, start of the Civil War.

The party included two cakes, Jones said. One was decorated with the words, "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler." The other bore the phrase, "The South Was Right. White Men Fight," Jones said.

Officers arrived at the restaurant and banquet hall about 6:15 p.m. Saturday after receiving a call about smoke, according to a release from Lyons police.

The smoke bomb caused no serious damage or injuries, but police evacuated and closed the restaurant to allow the Cook County sheriff's police bomb squad to search the building, Lyons police said.

Pete Klemetzos, general manager of Klem's, said he was unaware of the party's specific purpose when it was scheduled several weeks ago.

The same group has rented the banquet hall in previous years and was holding a peaceful gathering, he added.

"There was no 'Heil Hitler' or anything like that," Klemetzos said, although banners bearing swastikas were displayed.

"They didn't wear uniforms. There were no outside demonstrations. A group came in and said they wanted me to cook for them — chicken, beef, sausage — and I didn't ask them who they were."

New Jersey Reportback: The Battle of Pemberton: ARA vs NSM

PLEASE DONATE TO LEGAL DEFENSE FUND FOR ANTIFA ARRESTED IN NJ!

Friends, We are writing to request your aid for the legal defense fund of two Antifa activists who were arrested in Burlington County, New Jersey after a confrontation that ended an annual neo-Nazi conference. The activists are members of New Jersey and New York chapters of Anti-Racist Actionamong whose activities are tracking down white supremacist groups, publicizing them and confronting them in order to shut down their ability to recruit and plan. Any donations can be sent via Paypal to donate@antiracistaction.org.

From the Anti-Racist Action Network:

The Battle of Pemberton: ARA vs NSM

The National Socialist Movement (NSM), a group that tries to dance around the fact that they are Nazis while sporting swastikas on their uniforms and sieg heiling, had been planning to host their annual conference along with a rally, redneck horse shoe and band spectacle for several months.

The dates were set for April 15th and 16th in Trenton, New Jersey. Of course we can assume they expected some unhappy spectators at the rally but what they didn't predict was an all out battle that left 4 of their "SS security" force in the hospital with multiple staples. The NSM went through quite a bit of trouble keeping their event and sleeping locations private. This was nothing but a waste of time for the NSM considering the turncoats within their organization leaked the information to anti-fascists weeks in advance.

The 15th came around and a phone jam was put on both the hotel, where 50 or 60 of them stayed for the weekend(the Comfort Inn off 209 in Bordentown, NJ) and their conference location (the 449 club at 6 Pemberton Ave in Pemberton). Just as the conference was about to begin 30 of us took the streets about 2 blocks away and marched in black bloc to the conference location. Within that time several people living and passing through the neighborhood began to stare from the cars and porches as we let them know Nazis were meeting in their town. One person, upon notification, parked his car and joined the bloc immediately, eager to confront the boneheads. By the time we arrived to demonstrate a few nazis from the NSM gathered outside of the conference space but within a few seconds about 30 or 40 of their fully SS uniformed security were out with chairs, thinking they were about to kick some antifa tail. After some exchanged words the NSM walked off the property to engage us. They wanted a brawl...and we defended ourselves successfully.

After a brutal rumble of evenly matched numbers the NSM quickly scurried back to the property with bashed skulls, bruised faces and damaged property, sending 4 boneheads to the hospital (2 of which may still remain there). At this point the cops had shown up and we managed to retreat with one comrade minorly injured and two arrested. It can be assumed that if the conference was not shut down completely, the talking they were doing had nothing to do with rank promotions and five year plans, as it was supposed to. This was the part of the purpose of our demonstration; we are not trying to change their minds or tell them they have been bad little nazi sub-humans. We want to disempower them, leave them in fear and most importantly crush what they are trying to build. Not only did we win the physical battle by a mile, but given the goal at hand, they were completely defeated. The conference was now minimized to a retreating space where the NSM would pout and discuss their defeat. According to some sources not only did some members of the NSM check into a different hotel, spending more money and fearing more attacks, but even the cops were laughing at how bad the nazis were beat and were quoted saying "ARA isn't playing this weekend", but then again, are we ever?

The next day, April 16th, it was time for the downtown rally in Trenton followed by the backyard concert on Jason Heickes' property. Before the NSM showed for their hour long spectacle in which they gained no supporters whatsoever, not only were ARA, the new Black Panthers and other radical groups ready to confront the Nazis but the community itself filled the streets with rage looking to clean house. The NSM was protected by several hundreds of cops, as you can expect, and because of this there really was no physical stand off aside from a few rocks hurled at their busses as they exited the city. This was a second victory for us since they gained absolutely nothing and no one out of the formality while we showed our numbers and that we were more then prepared for another round. After the Nazis left, one of our other enemies in the three way struggle, the cops, moved aggressively to force us out of the city, but not before a few folks smashed some Bank of America windows. These actions show that the rage against the fascists is not based out of a will to preserve the status quo or protect capitalism but rather a will to reclaim what is ours and to smash racism, fascism and all oppression and apparati of control. Since one of the band members from Zyklon b had his head split wide open in the melee and because it was raining we assume the outdoor concert on Heickes' property was at the very least not what they expected bringing. Yet another victory for our side.

View a low-quality video of the street brawl posted by the NSM:

Another Anti-Racist Action Network member writes:

The rejection of the identity of victimization through cracking a Nazi's skull.
-by a bitch ass faggot

On Friday, April 15^th, 2011 some anti-fascist in Anti-Racist Action learned of the location of the National Socialist Movement's national conference for rank promotion and five-year planning. A group of 30 of us decided to march to where the Nazi's were strongest, to bodily and boldly confront them, and we were decidedly victorious. After the the dust settled six Nazis were hospitalized, more were injured, their vehicles and property were damaged, and their conference was ended. On the other side, one anti-fascist required moderate first aid.

Many of us at the melee were people of color, working class, immigrants, women, queer, transgendered, and/or people on parole or probation. The logic of the victim is constantly thrust upon us. We are said to be 'at risk' and must be protected and pandered to. It is said that we need others, usually the State, to protect and stand up for us. But, through the action of splitting Nazis' heads open, we rejected the logic of victimization. We will continue to do so, we will be victims no longer. We do not need others to stand up for us, we have each other. When we are attacked, we will find each other and counterattack, so hard and so fierce that we will surprise even ourselves.

If the Nazis call us bitch ass faggots, they might not be that far off the mark. But if they conflate those slurs with weakness, the six hospital visits they faced would prove otherwise.

From the mainstream Burlington County Times:

Neo-Nazis, opponents brawlPEMBERTON BOROUGH - A clash between neo-Nazis and members of an antiracist organization Friday evening left four Nazis in the hospital and prompted two arrests, according to the New Jersey State Police.

The fight involved about 50 people and took place on the eve of a neo-Nazi rally Saturday in Trenton.

State troopers responded to the fight at about 7 p.m. on the unit block of Pemberton Street, where members of the Detroit-based National Socialist Movement were gathering to prepare for their rally.

The group has been described as one of the largest neo-Nazi hate groups in the country and promotes a racist and anti-Semitic agenda, according to both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

While the NSM members were meeting, about 25 people from a Minnesota-based group called the Anti-Racist Action Network drove into the borough and an armed melee ensued between the two groups. They fought with weapons such as knives, pipes and wooden boards, state police said.

All but two of the combatants, who were not seriously hurt, scattered when troopers arrived.

State police arrested Joseph W. Alcoff, 29, of Syracuse, N.Y., and Thomas T. Keenan, 25, of Franklin Township, and charged them both with third-degree inciting a riot.

Both are members of the Anti-Racist Action Network and both were transferred to the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly in lieu of $50,000 bail each, according to state police.

Authorities said the incident remains under investigation and do not rule out further arrests and charges.

Four of the Nazis suffered undisclosed injuries as a result of the fight and were transported to local hospitals.

Two were treated and released from Lourdes Emergency Department at Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Pemberton Township. The other two were being treated at Virtua Memorial in Mount Holly on Saturday, state police said.

Their identities or conditions were not available.

The Anti-Racist Action Network posted a blog to its website about the incident describing the confrontation.

"A group of 30 of us decided to march to where the Nazis were strongest, to bodily and boldly confront them, and we were decidedly victorious," the blog reads. "After the dust settled, six Nazis were hospitalized, more were injured, their vehicles and property were damaged, and their conference was ended."

The neo-Nazi rally in Trenton did go on as planned for about 90 minutes Saturday, but state police said the 50 members of the National Socialist Movement who marched at the Statehouse were outnumbered fourfold by members of antiracist groups and other counter-protesters.

The event was generally peaceful, although there were at least three arrests - one for breaking a window at a bank, one for a weapons offense, and one for shooting off fireworks, according to state police.

Authorities did not immediately release further details.

David Irving's Indianapolis Speaking Event Attacked...Twice

It's only been a few days since David Irving began the second portion of his 2011 tour and already the Midwest has been delivering militant antifa resistance.

His first Midwest speaking event was to take place in Indianapolis speaking to members of the racist hate groups Hoosier Nation and American Third Position. However, the night before, the MCL Cafeteria hosting the event had several windows bashed out with bricks that read "Shut David Irving Down" and "No Nazis", forcing the MCL Cafeteria to shut down the event and tell Hoosier Nation that they can no longer host their monthly racist gatherings there. Matt Parrott and Jaenelle Antas had to scramble to find another emergency location at the last minute, although they have tried to claim, as the boneheads usually do, that this was not the space for their event. We know this is bullshit because dependable intelligence sources have confirmed this before and after bricks were thrown.

antifa communique from an anonymous email:

On April 8th, the night before holocaust denier and nazi sympathizer David Irving's Indianapolis speaking event, we paid the hosting restaurant an early visit. Three Bricks written with "Shut David Irving Down" and "No Nazis" were launched through the windows to harass the MCL Cafeteria and to prevent Irving from speaking there. The MCL Cafeteria regularly hosts racist gatherings of Hoosier Nation, Council of Conservative Citizens(CCC) and American Third Position meetings led by Indianapolis-based racists Matt Parrott and Jaenelle Antas (who are organizing to support Indiana's anti-immigrant bill SB590). Attacking Irving on the first function of the Midwest portion of his 2011 speaking tour sets the tone for things to intensify: not only for Irving and his assistant Jaenelle, not only for those who attend and host his events, but for every holocaust denier and every white nationalist. We wish them to be a target of war every minute and every second of there lives and in those moments in which they seem unchallenged, let them wither in fear of retribution and drown in the paranoia caused by the panopticon-like gaze that is antifa.

 The list of cities Irving plans to visit on the rest of his tour. Click 'read more' for more info on the Indianapolis speaking event.

The restaurant hosting Irving's speaking event:
MCL Cafeteria
1390 Keystone Way
Carmel, IN 46032
Carmel location phone: 317-844-9217 Corporate phone: 317-257-5425

 Two Indianapolis-based racists who invited Irving here who are part of http://www.hoosiernation.us which also holds regular meetings at the MCL Cafeteria.

Matt Parrott
1145 Golfview Dr Apt F
Carmel, IN 46032
(317) 324-8282

Jaenelle Antas
7823 Ella Dobbs Ln
Indianapolis, IN 46227
(317) 379-8871 and (305) 923-9400

Apparently, after the location was moved, the dumb asses managed to give up their new location spot again and, according to Jaenelle's(tristania) post on stormfront, were forced by management to leave. They claim that they found a new location last second but whether this is true or not can't be confirmed. They try to call the event a success but lets analyze the situation; even if they did have this talk at parrotts apartment, or as the Hoosier nation response says, "in a van down by the river", it wouldn't have been until two of the former locations fell through, not to mention that one of them was Hoosier nations monthly meeting spot in which they are no longer welcome. And how many people do you think were unable to attend this speech due to this fiasco? Meeting taking place or not they went through some hell while antifa had a good time and with no legal repercussions.

Today, according to David Irving's facebook, as well as some other sources, st. Louis antifascists have broke windows harassed and spray painted the hotel that were said to be hosting Irving.

Even before his tour began, Irving was already facing disagreements with Jaenelle about how he is poorly managing the funds raised from his book and ticket sales in addition to harsh criticism from his own neo-nazi affiliates that he is washed up, old and an irrelevant mockery of his former self. After an awesome campaign against Irving's 2010 U.S. tour, we are making sure 2011 will deliver a whole new round of failures for Irving's holocaust denial tour. Two days of war and twenty-two more to go. Good work to our comrades in Indiana and st. Louis and for all of our other antifas out there, lets keep it up. No platform for the fascists!

March 10 Immigrant Rights Mobilization / Liberation Square

From Moratorium on Deportations and Immigrant Youth Justice League:

The recent struggles for liberation in North Africa has served to fuel the combatant spirit all over the world. In the US, the struggle in Wisconsin is the assertion of the ongoing workers movement that has found a strong echo in the struggles in Ohio, Iowa and Indiana. Public sector workers, youth, anti-war organizations and disability activists are consolidating their unity to address the multifaceted system of oppression that produces inequality and constructs borders between oppressed communities, keeping us divided. This is the time to expand even further the political vision of mainstream organizing in the United States. It is time to bring forth a vision and concrete tools to challenge the politics of scapegoating and austerity that conceal the root causes of the current social, political and economic crisis.

Liberation Square – March 10, Union Park!!

The ongoing criminalization of immigrants is part of a global economic system that finds profit in the incarceration, displacement, and repression of millions across the globe. Despite the solidarity that has blossomed among people who are recognized by the system as being citizens and those who are labeled as undocumented, citizenship continues to be one of the main mechanisms for rendering people exploitable. It has been wielded as a ruthless tool for dividing us, forcing us to compete against each other in a global race to the bottom. Liberation Square, modeled on the revolutionary community that sprung up during the Egyptian revolution, is a call to “cross borders” between struggles, between divided communities and between forced political identities. Because in a system of laws that are stacked against us, we are all becoming undocumented, exploitable – from those internally displaced to communities facing mass incarceration, from criminalized dissenters to AWOL soldiers. The struggle cannot be merely a fight for “papers”, for we are fighting the perpetuation of the same system that makes us all increasigly illegitimate: it is a fight for justice beyond all borders !!!

Here in Chicago, our unity is a microcosm of the larger interconnected struggles happening around the world. And the fights we must face together at home – against the recently introduced anti-immigrant bill in the Illinois General Assembly and a mayor with an agenda of privatization – reflect the larger ones we face as a society.

We extend this invitation to organizations and communities to join us at Liberation Square. As people committed to fighting for immigrant justice, we recognize we can no longer look to politicians and their liberal organizations for real change. Liberation Square is a time and place where we can come together and build a new culture, a new politics, to harness the power of unity and create real change.

An over view for March 10 2011-What’s happening on March 10^th 2011?

Mass Mobilization for Immigrant justice during an all day event on March 10.  Actions troughout the day will be in the form of Gathering, March, Teach-Ins, Workshops, Rally, Protest and Celebration.

How is it going to work?

Actions for March 10 are being organized starting at 12 noon and ending at 6:00 pm with a possible celebration in the evening after 6:00PM.

12:00 Noon to 2:00 PM (Reunion/diversity of small actions)

Starting Point: “Liberation Square” at Union Park (Corners of N. Ashland Ave and W. Washington Blvd) “Liberation Square”: A community gathering to share food, ideas and visions. This will be a space for teach-ins, workshops, sign-making and small creative actions, a place for different communities and struggles to come together.

2:00 PM (March Step off time)People will assemble in the Park area between W. Washington Blvd and W. Warren Blvd.

2:15 PM – 3:00 PM (March and Route)1st Part of the Route: People will march on W. Washington Blvd heading EAST. Until arriving at Boeing Corporate Offices Located at 100 N. Riverside Plaza, corners of W. Washington Blvd and the Chicago River. A teach-in at the Boeing Corporate Offices on the connections between the war economy and the deepening economic and political crisis is being organized.

3:15 PM -3:30 PM (Resume March to Daley Plaza)People will continue to march on W. Washington Blvd heading east to Daley Plaza, located on 118 N. Clark St for the Coming out of the Shadows Rally which is being lead by the Immigrant Youth Justice League and other youth organizations.

4:00 PM (Coming Out of the Shadows: Undocumented. Unafraid. Unapologetic. Rally)The Reunion for this rally is being call at 3:00 PM and program is schedule to start at 4:00 PM.  Pending on community meetings, more details to come. Visit IYJL.org for updates on the Rally.

5:00 PM (People’s March Resumes)March will assemble subsequent of the Coming Out of the Shadows Rally at Daley Plaza. People will march back to “Liberation Square” at Union Park.

6:00 PM (Arrive at Liberation Square and Celebration)The People’s March will conclude at starting point, “Liberation Square” at Union Park with a big Celebration and gathering. More details to come after planning has been finalized.

***Not all timings can be confirmed at this time, some are pending community meetings and others can change due to actual conditions and circumstances on the day of March 10. ***

Updates on the different actions can be found at:www.moratoriumondeportations.org and www.iyjl.org

Pro choice militants take on Joe Scheidler and the pro life action league

In the early hours of December 1st, pro-choice militant feminists attacked
the home of  an anti-choice "patriarch" Joe Schiedler on the North Side of
Chicago. The day fallowing the action news spread across Christian and Catholic news sites about the attack on the Scheidler's even contacting the Obama Administration to do an investigation on this "hate crime" but still, while wanting to incarcerate them, offering up a whole lot of forgiveness. Isn't it ironic that a few rocks being thrown through a couple windows grabs so much attention from their side while people who preform abortions, or even work in health clinics where they are preformed, have to wear bullet proof vests to work?

Taken from  the pro life action league website. Posted by Ann Scheidler (December 2, 2010 at 6:03 pm)

 

The broken window in the front of Joe and Ann Scheidler’s Chicago home [Photo by Ann Scheidler]

At a little after 2:00 AM on Thursday morning I awoke to the sound of breaking glass. My first thought was that a shelf must have fallen in the china cabinet. Then I heard it again. Joe and I got up and went downstairs to check out what had happened. We did not suspect anything particularly untoward. I didn’t have my contacts or glasses so I wasn’t seeing to clearly. Everything looked OK. We decided it must have been something outside, so we went back to bed.

Later in the morning when we were about to head to 7:30 Mass, Joe went out front to see if anything looked suspicious. At about the same time that he discovered shards of glass all over our front porch, I discovered a chunk of asphalt and lots of broken glass on the floor in the dining room.

A few minutes earlier I had noticed that the living room seemed a bit cold, but the windows are covered with lace shades so it wasn’t obvious that a window was broken. After finding the dining room break, I checked again in the living room. Sure enough on the floor was a plastic bag with a piece of asphalt and a note in an envelope.

Asphalt Accompanied by Cryptic Writings

I opened the envelope to find a message from a troubled woman (women). It started: “We are crazy, feminists bitches….” Clearly it was time to call the police.

 Note that came with the asphalt chunks  [Photo by Ann Scheidler]

A very concerned Chicago police officer arrived shortly. He explained that it wasn’t technically a burglary because no one tried to break it, but since it wasn’t exactly a random act of vandalism, it might fall into the category of a “hate crime.”

Now here I must confess that I do not believe in hate crimes. A crime is a crime. And chances are if you rob someone or hurt him or throw a brick through his window, you probably don’t like him. I don’t think we need layers of crimes with special labels to try to keep order.

It turns out, however, that the “hate crime” label does not fit this particular crime. The explanation? The perpetrator didn’t hate us. She just hated what we stand for. Rather a subtle difference it seems to me. The upshot is there won’t be much investigation unless it happens again.

Fortunately while the police officer was still at our house, a handy man pulled up. He was there to fix a door. I asked him if he was pretty good at windows too and he set about to replace the broken panes and get the storm window repaired.

Deathscort Training Session Same Night. Coincidence?

A few hours after the police report had been made, I recalled that the Illinois Choice Action Team (ICAT) had scheduled a training session for clinic escorts to work at Albany clinic where we regularly pray and counsel. The training was held about twenty minutes from our house. Did the ICAT announce our home address to the recruits, or did they come away from the training session in such a frenzy to stop pro-lifers that they decided to pay a visit to the Scheidlers? Who knows.

I called the police station to give them the new piece of information, but the officer on duty thought it was irrelevant because there would be no way to prove that someone from the training was the brick thrower. True, but it certainly seems likely.

A brick through your window is a pretty small price to pay for your beliefs. But there’s no guarantee that that’s where it stops. We are blessed that so many people pray for us on a regular basis. And we have received many calls from pro-life friends with assurance of their prayers. That’s why we aren’t especially unnerved by this act of vandalism. And that’s why we will pray for the post-abortive women who paid us a visit and tossed a couple of bricks. Maybe no one else is praying for them. I hope you’ll join us.

We stand in solidarity with the "crazy feminist bitches" who carried out
this action and hope they continue their good work. Actions like these are
but a taste of the resistance that will eventually over shadow the
delusional anti-choicers who condone hit lists of abortion doctors (The Nuremberg Files) but are astounded when their homes are attacked.

Iowa Anarchists Shutdown Neo-Nazi Rally in Des Moines

Reposted from Infoshop News:

More than sixty anarchists, antifascists, catholic workers, communists, and everyday people from Iowa City, IA; Des Moines, IA; Omaha, Nebraska; and elsewhere converged in Des Moines on Saturday, November 20 to protest a scheduled ¨White Pride Day¨ rally organized by the American National Socialist Party based in Chillicothe, Ohio. Although a few suspected white nationalists were seen driving around the perimeter of the Iowa state capitol, where the fascist rally was supposed to be held, none apparently had the guts to get out of their cars and risk a confrontation with the large mob of antifascists.

More than sixty anarchists, antifascists, catholic workers, communists, and everyday people from Iowa City, IA; Des Moines, IA; Omaha, Nebraska; and elsewhere converged in Des Moines on Saturday, November 20 to protest a scheduled ¨White Pride Day¨ rally organized by the American National Socialist Party based in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Although a few suspected white nationalists were seen driving around the perimeter of the Iowa state capitol, where the fascist rally was supposed to be held, none apparently had the guts to get out of their cars and risk a confrontation with the large mob of antifascists.

The Des Moines Police Department, Polk County Sherriff´s Department, and unknown federal law enforcement were all monitoring the scene, and some anarchists suspect that at least three men who attended the counter-protest were probably undercover law enforcement officers, due to their appearance and behavior.

The counterprotest was organized on less than two weeks notice, and was generally considered a victory for the loosely-affiiliated anarchist movement in Iowa.

¨Sixty-three people attended the counter-protest which means there were sixty--three different social movements represented here today,¨ said one local anarchist. ¨We not only successfully shut-down the neo-nazi rally, we also successfully demonstrated our strength in numbers and the effectiveness of the decentralized affinity group model of organizing.¨

Word of the ¨White Pride Day¨ rally and the proposed counter-protest were disseminated through Facebook, email, and other online social media, and half a dozen or more affinity groups, representing a wide variety of ideologies and personal styles, and ranging anywhere between four and fourteen people each answered the call.

¨Nazi punks fuck off!¨ yelled one SkinHead Against Racial Prejudice.

Another woman from Des Moines carried a sign that read, ¨Hamsters are taking our jobs.¨

¨I used to have a really great job, running around in a cage and rolling in a ball around the living room,¨ she said. ¨Then a hamster came along and took that job from me, and that´s not right. I don´t think hamsters should be allowed to take our jobs. I´m sick of unicorns, as well, coming around with all their rainbows.¨

PROTEST Against “Americans For Truth About Homosexuality”

From the Gay Liberation Network

On Saturday, Nov. 13th please join the Gay Liberation Network in protest against the annual banquet of Illinois’s leading anti-gay bigot organization, “Americans For Truth About Homosexuality” (AFTAH).
In contrast to many on the far right such as Rev. Rick Warren, AFTAH’s Executive Director Peter LaBarbera is such an unreconstructed hater of LGBT people that he remains one of the few who still publicly support Uganda’s notorious “kill the gays” bill. AFTAH so regularly slanders LGBT people that the Southern Poverty Law Center recently labeled it a “hate group” along with neo-fascists and other haters.
Unfortunately AFTAH is not just a fringe joke group like Fred Phelps of “God Hates Fags” infamy. AFTAH has led two failed attempts to get anti-gay referenda on the Illinois state ballot and closely allies itself with Republican candidates like immigrant-hater Jim Oberweis.
Please help us defeat AFTAH’s hate by exposing it through protest:
5:30 PM
Saturday, Nov. 13
In front of “Christian Liberty Academy”
502 W. Euclid Avenue
Arlington Heights
The protest is just a few blocks away from the “Arlington Heights” Metra stop of the Union Pacific Northwest Line in downtown Arlington Heights. Those traveling from Chicago will meet in front of the Ogilvie Transportation Center Metra Station, 500 W. Madison Street, Chicago at 4 PM sharp – just look for the Pride flag. For info email LGBTliberation@aol.com

"The Minutemen" Film Crew Met with Protests, Eggings and a Shit-filled Pie at Chicago International Film Festival

This just in from Chicago Indymedia:

A new anti-immigrant propaganda film "The Minutemen" is touring the country in an attempt to legitimize the racist violence perpetuated by gun-toting vigilante border patrols. The movie has managed to sneak itself into several film fests and even won a few awards including "Best Documentary" and "Grand Jury Award" at the Brooklyn Film Festival. Disturbingly the film has managed to screen at the Chicago International Film Festival where it also won the "Silver Hugo" award.

The film spotlights the work of the California-based Mountaintop MInutemen led by racist Robert "Lil Dog" Crooks who arms his followers and stalks the US-California border from his RV. The Mountaintop Minutemen were in the news in 2007 for releasing a disturbing film showing the shooting of a Mexican immigrant inside the US border.

The screening took place on October 15-16 and Robert Crooks himself was invited to come speak along with producer Nicholas Weissman and director Corey Wascinski (who were obvious minutemen sympathizers). Although we only had a day notice to prepare for the event, we were able to demonstrate strong opposition to the film in a number of ways.

On the 15th, about ten protesters met Robert Crooks outside the theatre with chants of "No Nazis No KKK No Fascist USA" while holding a banner that said "World Without Borders" while dozens of festival attendees, curious bystanders and security observed. Robert Crooks wasn't hard to spot in full body camoflauge fatigues as he arrogantly taunted the crowd. Later after Crooks had several drinks at the bar, he was slammed with eggs as he was trying to leave the festival.

The film screened again the next day at the same time as protesters marched just a few blocks away on Michigan Avenue for the Midwest Regional Anti-war action. After the march ended, folks headed to the theatre to once again greet the film crew with protest. This time around, we acquired several tickets from a sympathetic festival employee and was able to sneak several subversives inside. As the Q & A session started after the film, several people were able to disrupt Robert Crooks with shouts of "Racist Pig!" to Crooks and the film crew, bringing the screening to an abrupt end as security shut down the Q & A session while struggling to escort protesters outside.

If we had more advance notice of the screening we would have utilized more effective ways to shut down the event if we were not able to convince the Chicago International Film Festival the pull the offensive film entirely.

However, antifas were able to confont one of the three people who spoke on behalf of the film. "The Minutemen" producer Nicholas Weissman thought he was going to be giving an interview about the film to a local newspaper, but instead he screamed in surprise as a pie filled with dog shit was brutally driven into his face: a reminder of what to expect if you attempt to bring racist propaganda to Chicago. Folks are encouraged to call Nicholas Weissman on his cellphone at 818-219-0111 asking him how he enjoyed his just deserts.